THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – The Lakehead Thunderwolves were downed 3-1 by the Ottawa Gee Gees at the Minto Sports Complex in Ottawa on Saturday night.
The Gee Gees dominated the play early on and opened the scoring when Thunder Bay native Connor Sills fired a shot from the slot past Lakehead netminder Devin Green at 11:29 for the only goal of the first period.
The Thunderwolves came out with more jump in the second period, one in which neither team was able to score despite plenty of end-to-end action.
Mark Beckstead extended Ottawa’s lead at 6:49 of the third when he rifled a slap shot from the high slot after receiving a drop pass from John Deacon that beat Green low on the glove side.
Ottawa’s Brendan Jacome capitalized on a defensive miscue by Lakehead deep in the Wolves’ end to put the Gee Gees’ up 3-0 at the 11:45 mark.
Sills and Linden Springer dropped their gloves and traded punches late in the period and both players were subsequently ejected from the game.
The Wolves spoiled Anthony Brodeur’s shutout bid when Sam Schutt scored with 22 seconds remaining in the game after being set up by Kelin Ainsworth and Billy Jenkins.
Both goaltenders put in solid performances on the night, with the total shots on goal favoring the Gee Gees by a 36-31 margin.
Neither team was able to convert on the power play, with Lakehead going 0-for-3 while Ottawa was 0-for-4.
The loss is the Thunderwolves fourth in a row and drops Lakehead’s conference record to 8-10-1 and to 10-14-1 overall. The Wolves will return home for a pair of games with the Laurentian Voyageurs at the Fort William Gardens next weekend.
